Irish Olympian and Irish Country Magazine cover star Sharlene Mawdsley opens up about what continues to motivate her
This article is an edited excerpt from Sharlene Mawdsley cover feature in the May|June issue of Irish Country Magazine, interviewed by Joanne O’Riordan.
Sharlene Mawdsley has steadily established herself among the world’s leading 400m runners in recent seasons. In 2024 she helped Ireland to gold in the mixed 4x400m relay and silver in the women’s 4x400m relay at the European Championships in Rome, as well as bronze at the World Relays earlier that year.
That summer, the Irish women’s relay team finished a heartbreaking fourth at the Paris Olympics, with Mawdsley running the anchor leg. It was a performance that captured the nation’s attention as Ireland cheered the women in green all the way to the line.
However, her success isn’t the result of an overnight success, but the outcome of year’s of dedication to training for that very moment.
Chatting to Joanne O’Riordan for Irish Country Magazine, Sharlene shares how, yes, there are medals, major championships and the occasional moment where the roar of a crowd carries you down the home straight. But far more often, there are cold mornings on an empty track, long gym sessions, recovery work, travel schedules and the quiet discipline of showing up again the next day. Big moments are made up of all the small, tiny moments, focusing on execution and repetition.
Tipperary is where her heart and home are currently. She heads to the Sport Ireland Institute of Sport in Dublin once or twice a week, depending on the demands placed on her. And she hits the track in Tipperary as frequently as possible and goes to the gym every day. But it’s not so bad putting so many hours into training when you have a partner that motivates you.
Cheering Sharlene on from the sidelines is her boyfriend, All-Ireland-winning Tipperary defender Mike Breen.
“I have such admiration for Mikey with how hard he works and then how hard he trains on top of it. I think it’s definitely been really good because we both understand each other’s lifestyles, which is really nice”.
Despite their shared love of sport, there’s no rivalry between the couple as they encourage one another rather than compete.
“We put our pride aside because there are a lot of things that Mikey is really good at, but I’m absolutely useless at. That can be hard when someone is coaching you to do something, especially when it’s your boyfriend. I think we’ve gotten over that stage. I want to make him faster and he wants to make me stronger!”.
Read the full interview with Sharlene in the May|June issue of Irish Country Magazine, on shelves now. Find your nearest stockist here or subscribe to the magazine here.
